Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas said holding the postponed legislative
election is possible only after the parliament approves the new
election law, the official WAFA news agency reported Saturday.

Abbas was quoted as saying that when the new election bill is passed in
the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), he will hold talks with all
Palestinian factions to set a new date for the election, which was
postponed from its original date of July 17.

Abbas announced to postpone the parliamentary election on May 4 over differences with the PLC over the way to hold the polls.

Abbas recommended 50 percent of the 132 parliament seats be elected
through proportional representation and 50 percent allocated to
constituencies, while the PLC preferred two thirds elected through
proportional representation and one third through constituencies.

Abbas has yet to endorse the bill and the Palestinian election
committee indicated it need two months to prepare for the election
after Abbas approved it.

The postponement of the election is believed to give Abbas more time to
prepare for a possible tough challenge posed by the Islamic Hamas
movement, whose surging street popularity has rendered it a strong
showing in the local elections.